North Hills High School wrestling coach Jose Martinez enters the 2008-09 season with the challenging task of replacing the most successful trio in school history.
Alexander Martinez (131-29), Adam Harold (121-42), and Corey Perrotte (113-26) have graduated after combining for 365 victories. The trio were among six senior starters on last season's squad, which shattered the school record for team victories with its 23-5 record.
"We have some big holes to fill," Martinez said. "We are a very young team. We have 20 kids and only four are seniors. We do have a good group of returning starters who should provide good leadership."
For the complete story click on this link:
Standout junior Ben Amrhein rolled to five straight victories on his way to winning the 160-pound title at the Chartiers-Houston Tournament on Saturday. Amrhein, widely considered to be one of the WPIAL Class AAA's top wrestlers at his weight, was inexplicably unseeded in his bracket, as were all of his North Hills' teammates. Amrhein showed the seeding committee the errors in their ways by dominating four straight wrestlers on his way to a 5-1 championship final victory over 4th-seeded Tyler Holt of Uniontown.
Amrhein started the tournament Friday evening with preliminary round wins over South Fayette's Adam Zombeck (by major decision, 19-7) and Chartiers-Houston's Joey Schneider (by fall at 3:34) and a quarterfinal victory over Upper St. Clair's Connor Buker (by major decision, 9-0). Amrhein then began his Saturday with a semifinal pin of Albert Gallatin's Cody Mitchell at 1:32 to set up his win in the finals. Amrhein now boasts a perfect 6-0 early season record. Congratulations Ben!
Also making the podium for the Indians were junior T.J. McElwaine (third at 215 pounds) and sophomore Troy Zangaro (fourth at 103 pounds). McElwaine won four of his five bouts, losing only to the eventual champion, Jeremiah Karpency of Albert Gallatin. Zangaro, wrestling in his first varsity tournament, was 4-2 for the weekend, including three victories by fall.
7th Annual North Hills Invitational Duals
Pittsburgh, PA
December 20th, 2008
Bethel Park 4-0
Kiski Area 3-1
North Hills 2-2
Mount Lebanon 1-3
Ambridge 0-4
Outstanding Wrestler Josh Ricciuti, Bethel Park (152 pounds)
Most Falls in Least Time Michael McCutcheon, Kiski Area 3 falls in 1:23
For the complete results of the North Hills Duals goto the score page.
November 9, 2008
North Hills well represented at Cliff Keen PA Kickoff Classic
Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008 - North Hills was well represented with eight wrestlers in action at the second annual Cliff Keen Pennsylvania National Kickoff Classic held at Washington & Jefferson College. Over 300 wrestlers were entered at the first local open tournament of the season.
Bringing home hardware from W&J were youth wrestler Gage Curry (1st-10U-60), junior high wrestlers Mike Bonsmann (1st-12U-135) and Anton Martinez (2nd-15U-82), and varsity wrestlers Brandon O'Toole (3rd- HS-105 and 4th-15U-107) and Ben Smith (1st - HS - 287).
Full results from the tournament are available at http://65.61.23.146/tournaments/08%20tournaments/08pakickoff.pdf.
by Rick Smith
North Hills Clinches Playoff Spot, Eyes North Allegheny and Counties
Jan. 13, 2009 - With a convincing 62-12 victory at Pine-Richland last Friday night, the North Hills Indians are now 3-0 in the WPIAL's Class AAA Section 3-B standings and have clinched a post-season team playoff spot for the third straight season. The varsity is now 10-6 overall this season. The Indians' final section dual meet is at home this Wednesday, January 14th, at 7:00pm against North Allegheny. The Tigers are also 3-0 in Section 3-B and have also clinched a playoff spot. North Hills and North Allegheny will both travel to Fox Chapel for the Section 3 dual championships on Wednesday, January 21st. The loser of North Hills-North Allegheny will face Fox Chapel, the Section 3-A champ, while the winner will face either Butler or Hampton. The winners of those two dual meets will then meet each other for the section championship.
North Hills will also be in action this weekend (Jan. 16-17) at the Allegheny County Championships. Six Indians are seeded in the top ten of their respective brackets. Troy Zangaro (103), Kraig Esswein (112), and T.J. McElwaine (215) are all seeded second. Ben Amrhein is seeded fifth at 160, while Zach Gloekler is #6 at 145 and Mike Dietrich is #10 at 285. Wrestling begins at 10am both days at Fox Chapel High School.
Follow the results from Counties here...
<http://fcgate.fcasd.edu/~Bob_Siar/
- by Rick Smith